Eve teasing victim dies of burn injuries, cop suspended

Lucknow: In yet another shocking case of eve-teasing, a girl of class seventh, fed up with a local molester, set herself on fire in a village of Kakori (about 20kms from the district headquarter) of Lucknow district in Uttar Pradesh on March 5.

Almost 80 per cent of the victim’s body was charred by the fire and she was rushed to a local infirmary where the doctors referred her to Civil Hospital of the state capital. She was then brought to the referred hospital and remained there, fighting for life, for several days but unfortunately succumbed to her injuries on Saturday last.

• The deceased's father namely Manish is a farmer by occupation.
• The victim Rani (not her real name) was the eldest daughter of Manish and was a student in a local school of Kakori.
• Rani was not attending her school for the last 15 days and she never mentioned its reason to her parents.
• After staying back at home for those many days, she decided to continue going to her school on March 4.
• She was apparently tense when returned home from school but did not tell the reason of her stress to parents.
• Rani, pouring kerosene oil on her body, set herself on fire in the wee hours on March 5.
• Eventually, she succumbed to her burn injuries on Saturday last in the Civil Hospital of Lucknow city in UP.

The victim’s statement before she died:

• Rani, in her statement, told the police that she was continuously eve-teased and harassed by one Sonu Raidas of the same village.
• She told that Sonu used to troll her everyday while going to school since the last 45 days.
• The accused also threatened to kill her if she complained about the matter to anyone.
• Wearied by Sonu’s spite, Rani committed suicide.

What the victim’s father says:

• Manish wrote an application to the police in which he mentioned that Sonu was physically and mentally harassing her daughter for the last one and a half months.
• He has alleged that Sonu even raped her daughter on March 4, a day before she attempted to commit suicide.

Police’s version:

• The police received an application on Saturday last and a case had been registered against the accused.
• Police are conducting raids to nab him.
• He will soon be in the clutches, claim the police.
• Station House Officer (SHO) of Kakori Police Station Rampal Yadav was suspended after the incident.